News & Media

South Australians should be very concerned about any suggestion that submarine maintenance could be moved interstate – it’s more valuable than construction work, argues Jodie van Deventer. With a federal election looming, it is the time for both the Federal Government and Opposition to clarify where they want submarine maintenance to be based. In March last year, it was revealed that government-owned ASC was asked to draw up a draft plan for its 700-strong Adelaide operation to relocate to Western Australia. The move was dismissed…

Lester joined Westpac in February 2015 as the Westpac Retail Bank State General Manager, for South Australia, Northern Territory and Tasmania. Based in Adelaide, he is responsible for Westpac’s retail banking business comprising 59 branches and more than 500 staff. Prior to moving to Australia to join Westpac, Lester already had an extensive international banking career working in the UK as HSBC’s Regional Director and holding various senior management roles in Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Kazakhstan. “I have joined the Committee for Adelaide…

Congratulations to Committee for Adelaide Board member Mena Muecke who was awarded an OAM for service to the community through charitable initiatives as part of the Australia Day Honours. She does some amazing work at Sight for All and it’s a privilege to have her as part of our team.

We have been working closely with Mark Glazbrook from Migration Solutions on the population issues impacting our state and are thrilled they have joined us as silver members. Migration Solutions was founded in 2001 and has grown into one of Australia’s largest and most comprehensive migration agencies. It has two distinct divisions, corporate migration and general migration, catering specifically for Australian businesses and companies recruiting staff internationally, as well as for the needs of individual applicants, such as skilled migrants and family members applying for…

We recently participated in the Department for Trade, Tourism and Investment’s Adelaide Engage Work Experience Network (AEWEN) program – an international student focused program, bringing student teams and employers together to work on real world projects – and the result far exceeded our expectations. Our group included four students who came from different universities, cultures and professional backgrounds, delivering a research report, marketing plan and presentation of a very high standard. If you think your business would benefit from this program, get in touch with…

This follows on from meetings with Minister Tudge and other key Ministers, Shadow Ministers and South Australian MPs in Canberra in October advocating for policy changes to Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs) to meet our specific labour market needs. We're pleased to see that the City Deal announced last week - in addition to supporting Lot Fourteen - also focuses on population, specifically mentioning DAMAs and "getting the settings right to better manage population growth and city planning". We've also met with the Department of…

In Amsterdam’s centre, it’s easier to get around on foot, bike or scooter than in a car. And in Paris, youths zip around on electric scooters. While cars rule Adelaide’s streets followed by pedestrians and bike riders, streets in Europe and cities such as Singapore are exploding with new forms of transport which are reducing traffic jams and making transport fun. Outside Amsterdam Central, where ferries pull up to a train station and bikes, pedestrians and mopeds crisscross a small area, what looks like chaos…

We had the opportunity to show Skycity's Expansion Committee around while they were in town in November. With only the afternoon to spare we were able to tailor a package that suited their interests which included a tour and briefing at ASC Osborne, briefing from Australian Naval Infrastructure and a tour and briefing at Adelaide Airport. Image (L-R): Skycity Expansion Committee touring Adelaide Airports new hotel Atura and the construction site for their expansion.

Following our AGM held on 12 November, we have some new faces on our Board and we would like to congratulate and welcome: Lester Wynne-Jones – State General Manager SA/NT/TAS, Westpac Leah Grantham – Director Partnerships & Corporate Relations, Adelaide University Matthew Sherwell – Manager Policy & Regulatory Affairs, Santos Katrina Quinn – Business School Manager Strategy and Services, University of South Australia We would also like to pay tribute to retiring Board members Stephenie de Nichilo (Santos) and Lachlan Cooper (Uber) and look forward…

As Adelaide is poised to establish itself as a major centre for innovation, entrepreneurship and social enterprise with a national defence spend, emerging industries such as space and developments at Lot Fourteen (the oRAH site), we’re excited to announce an innovation study tour to Canada and the US from 4-18 May 2019. For more than a year we have been working with the Don Dunstan Foundation on their Thinkers in Residence program and through this work, many of you would have been inspired by Dr…

It was a pleasure to host members of the Committee for Cities and Region Network from across Australia and New Zealand in Adelaide this month. Through our Boards without Borders program, our CEO Jodie van Deventer led a full-day program which included a submarine tour at ASC followed by a briefing at the Naval Shipbuilding College. The group then heard from Kim Cheater from PwC and Aaron Hill from Deloitte and met the newly appointed Chief Entrepreneur Jim Whalley. It was capped with local food…

The Committee for Adelaide led a productive and successful delegation to Parliament House on Wednesday 24 October talking all things population growth and City Deals with Ministers Alan Tudge and David Coleman, Shadow Minister Shayne Neumann and MPs Rowan Ramsey, Rebekha Sharkie and Senator Tim Storer as well as the UNHCR. To grow our population, the national migration system needs a major overhaul and with momentum growing at State and Federal Government levels, we were able to strongly push the case for reforms including policy…

Westpac Westpac, one of South Australia’s largest employers, is Australia’s first bank and oldest company. For more than 200 years they have played an important role in the economic and social fabric of Australia. We look forward to working with Westpac together on our journey towards creating a better future for our city. The Tailor Founded in 1998 by South Australian, Drew Kluska, The Tailor creates Australian luxury travel for clients, both national and international, who seek an exclusive travel experience handpicked especially for them.…

BHP is a world-leading resources company. They extract and process minerals, oil and gas, with more than 60,000 employees and contractors, primarily in Australia and the Americas. BHP has an important footprint in South Australia with Olympic Dam mine and is one of the largest employers in the state. Haigh’s Chocolate first opened its doors on King William Street in 1915. Today the company is oldest family-owned chocolate maker in Australia and is run by fourth generation Haighs, Alister and Simon. They employ over 550…

As PwC’s CityPulse report and The Advertiser have pointed out, a City Deal can help unlock this opportunity allowing us to build the infrastructure and create the educational and innovation environments needed to create a lasting legacy that will set us up for decades to come. And as places such as San Francisco and Israel show, the high-tech developments demanded by defence can benefit our entire economy, turbo charging innovation in other industries such as space, mining and health. If we get this right, the…